


Fool's Gold

by Skriiven



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Cuties, Fluff, Humanstuck, M/M, karkat's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skriiven/pseuds/Skriiven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was his thirteenth birthday, and everything was awful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fool's Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Characters © Hussie

It was his thirteenth birthday, and everything was awful. His dad was out of town on some politician tour, as if he were some rock star, being asked to give speeches like encores. It was raining outside, which only added to matters, and only a few moments ago the power had shut off. Karkat knew he should go to the back up generator, but it was so far away and he’d rather just lay in his bed and complain at the stars rotating on his ceiling from the off brand space projector on his nightstand. 

Besides, he was still in his pajamas and it was so dark out he could just simply pretend it was nighttime and this whole horrible day would be over with. 

Unfortunately, at that moment, his traitorous belly decided it would compose a new song. Karkat pounded his small fists against the covers of his bed in frustration and then rolled over and stood up, sock covered feet pressing against the floor. 

He crept through the house, even though he was the only one home. It was a standard, two story home with bedrooms on the top floor and kitchen and living room on the bottom floor. At least, he thought it was standard; some of the neighbors thought it was a little extravagant. That could be because it was painted a rich red on the outside and had a black, wrought iron gate. 

Not that that was even anything, the Amporas’ house was purple!

Speaking of them, Karkat was supposed to be at their house right now as they were his dad’s back up babysitters when the Maryams were busy. Karkat had left after the first day there, because wow, that was a little too much purple and drama for him. Also he was thirteen. He shouldn’t need a babysitter.

Mr. Ampora was apparently a long time friend of his dad’s from back in college, and they’d help out at any moments notice, but their household activities and interesting family dynamic was hard to handle for any prolonged amount of time. Karkat didn’t know how his dad was ever roommates with Mr. Ampora considering they bickered constantly over the stupidest of things every time they went golfing together. 

The lights were off in the house, but every now and then a lightning flash would light up the corridors and rooms. Karkat had practiced walking in the dark so much that he could do it with his eyes closed, it came in handy when he had a bad dream and didn’t want to trouble his dad, creeping to the living room to watch TV instead. Usually only soap operas were on at that time, but he was starting to really get hooked on this hospital one.

Karkat knew his dad loved him a lot, but he wasn’t home very often. Karkat was fine with that, he was used to it really at this point, but this time it was different. This was the first birthday Mr. Vantas wasn’t going to make it back for. 

Karkat tugged a stool out from a bottom cabinet, using it to reach the upper cabinets to find bread and peanut butter and tossing it to the marble topped island counter. As he was grabbing the jelly out of the fridge a loud ring ran through the house. 

Karkat looked outside again, at the pouring rain, and debated with himself between stranger danger and helping some one in need. Well, he’d probably have an easier time deciding if he knew who was at the door. 

He padded across the wooden floors, peaking out a small window to the side of the entrance and jumping back when two large eyes peered back at him. It was a boy about his age, one he’d never seen before.

Karkat opened the door, with the chain bridging the gap. “What do you want?” Karkat asked, fingers pressed against the doorknob and ready to slam it closed.

The boy rolled his eyes, “I’d like to talk to you about our lord and savior.” He was wearing a black t-shirt and muddy jeans, looking as though he tripped in a very large puddle. Water pooled around his mismatched shoes and Karkat grimaced as he thought about all that dirt being tracked inside. 

Karkat was about to close the door again when a black shoe wedged itself between the door and the frame. “Wait! Please, I really don’t have another option here, I don’t know where I am and I just need to use the phone.” With his face closer now Karkat could see that his mismatched eyes were puffy and his nose was red. He’d been crying. He also had a lisp.

Karkat kicked the foot out of the space and closed the door. Pausing for only a moment before he unchained and opened it again. The boy looked as though he was going to break down again before he realized Karkat had opened the door to let him in. 

He jumped inside before Karkat could change his mind. Karkat realized, a bit disgruntled, that the boy was several inches taller than him. “So do you mind explaining what you’re doing on my porch, soaking wet and looking like you just found out Santa isn't real?”

“Wow, your house is really big! How much money does it take to keep this place up and running?” 

The kid wasn’t listening to him at all. “Hey, you little shit, give me your name and a reason to your sorry presence in my vision.” Karkat marched up to him, grabbing the kid’s arm to pause him in his tracks.

“Sollux Captor, thirteen year old hacker extraordinaire and currently lost because his friend thought it would be funny to go on an adventure and then disappear halfway through it because she probably got distracted while getting firewood. Okay maybe that’s not really fair considering she’s probably freaking out right now and I wouldn’t be in this situation if I hadn’t fallen into the stupid lake cause then she could call my cell phone, but life is a bitch sometimes and my cell phone is now a sodding piece of shit. And my prickly host is?” As he was talking Karkat made him take off his shoes, revealing, not to Karkat’s surprise, two mismatched socks.

“Karkat Vantas, thirteen year old blah, blah, blah.”

“You, my friend, have a charming way with words.”

“Oh, so we’re friends now?” Karkat raised his eyebrows at him as a flash of lightning lit up the hall. He motioned for Sollux to follow him as he went upstairs to grab a spare change of clothes. He wasn’t about to trust the kid on his own yet; with how he was eyeing up the place he’d probably have every valuable stuffed in his pockets in under a minute.

“I like to consider anyone who lets me into their house at short notice during a rainstorm a friend.” Sollux quipped as he glanced around Karkat's room with interest.

“It’s good to see you’re not picky about your life choices. I know you said that you just needed a phone, but the storm’s only gonna get worse from here so go change before you catch hypothermia and I have to hide a corpse.” Karkat said as he threw the spare clothes at Sollux and pointed him to the bathroom.

Sollux saluted him sarcastically before shutting the door behind him.

_Sollux POV_

“I look really fucking stupid.” Sollux said to no one in particular as he looked at himself in the mirror. He had on a t-shirt with a crab scuttling across it, cause that wasn’t lame at all, but to make matters worse it was too short and matched the too short sweatpants he also had been given. Well at least no one he knew could see him; Aradia and Feferi would never let him live it down.

“Are you gonna be in there all day beauty queen? Cause I’ve got shit to do.”

Ah yes, his lovely host. Karkat wasn’t exactly what he was expecting, but he did not disappoint. His host was very short, wearing a similar pair of sweatpants except his actually fit him, and a long sleeved shirt. Sollux opened the door to glance down at Karkat’s dark eyes, a quirked grin on his lips. “I’m sure you’ve got several irons in the fire, and probably several in your pants judging from your sour look.”

Then Karkat did something Sollux wasn’t expecting. The tired, angry kid took one look at him and burst out laughing. Karkat had to lean against the opposite wall while he clutched his sides.

“Oh my god I can’t believe what you look like, did you even see yourself in the mirror?!” 

“Glad to know you have a sense of humor after all.” Sollux said as he crossed his arms, a smile spreading across his face from the smaller boy’s infectious laughter. 

Karkat wiped his eyes and Sollux followed him back downstairs. Every once in a while Karkat would glance at him and snicker, but it was in a friendly manner and Sollux could tell the kid really needed some laughter in his life. He looked entirely too serious for a thirteen year old.

Karkat guided him to the kitchen where he had apparently been making a snack. Sollux looked at a small step stool with an amused stair, the kid was too short to reach the higher cabinets. Heheh.

“Do you like peanut butter and jelly?” Karkat asked, laying down pieces of bread on the counter and grabbing out some strawberry jelly from the fridge. Sollux sat down on a stool by the island, Karkat across from him and putting his sandwich together in a very business-like manner.

“Does anyone not like peanut butter and jelly?”

“Probably people allergic to peanut butter and jelly.”

“They’d probably still like it, they just can’t eat it.”

“They wouldn’t like it because they’d fucking die from it! I’m not gonna like something that can kill me!”

“What about poisonous jellyfish, you like them don’t you? Everyone thinks they’re pretty, but they can kill you faster than you can say bees.”

“Fuck the bees, I’m not going near any jellyfish. We don’t even live by an ocean. In fact, the closest I’ve gotten to any body of water bigger than an inflatable kiddie pool was when my friend Gamzee sent me a picture from his beach house. Water is shit, and so are you.”

“Something tells me you can’t swim.”

“Fuck you.” Karkat threw a sandwich at him and Sollux caught it with a laugh.

Karkat leaned back against the counter and bit into his sandwich, letting a silence fall between them that was punctuated by flashes of lightning and the rumbling of thunder.

“Are we still friends?” 

Sollux looked over at the shorter boy, coming out of a train of thought and thinking he misheard. “What?”

Karkat turned away, “Nothing.” 

Well that was unexpectedly cute.

“Yes we’re still friends, though I’m surprised that you took me so seriously. Normally people would catch onto my sarcastic drift.” Sollux winced as he realized he sounded harsh when he meant to tease, and he could see Karkat’s shoulders flinch up. 

“Sorry for being so fucking stupid then, we don’t have to be friends, I’m not going to see your sorry ass ever again anyways. Just call your parents as soon as the storm lets up and leave.” Karkat muttered, snatching the bread bag off the counter and rolling it back up to throw in the cabinet. 

“Woah there, KK. I’m kidding, were friends. We could even use the term biffles, but only for ironic purposes.”

“Good cause I’d hate for today to get any worse than it already is, thank god I can now freely use the term biffles.”

“I said ironic purposes only.”

“You sound like the shit stain next door.”

“He’s probably got a quality sense of irony.”

“Oh my god not you too.” 

The storm wasn’t going to let up any time soon, but the power eventually came back on so the two spent the rest of their time arguing over what to watch on TV and playing videogames. By the time the rain stopped pounding against the roof Sollux was sure he had heard every swear word known to man, and a few more, come from his new friend as they played Mario kart for the twentieth time. Karkat was very competitive, and he was a sore loser, which made beating him that much more satisfying. 

Halfway through an argument about coding Sollux finally got his clothes back from the dryer and was able to change out of the ridiculous outfit he had on, much to Karkat’s displeasure since he still found the sight rather funny.

When Sollux’s dad finally arrived at the door it was as though a switch was flicked and they suddenly ran out of things to say. Sollux didn’t want to leave and Karkat didn’t want to say goodbye. 

As Sollux put on his shoes Karkat finally cleared his throat, “So, uh, it was nice meeting you. Even if you are a completely shitty friend who wouldn’t even let me win once for a good self-esteem booster.” He leaned against the wall, Sollux noticed he liked to do that, as if he didn’t know what else to do with himself. “I guess this wasn’t such a bad birthday after all.” Karkat added, as if it was an after thought.

Sollux froze with his hands just finishing tying a bow with his shoelaces. “It’s your birthday? Why didn’t you tell me?!” 

Karkat looked at him in surprised as Sollux jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulders, “I would have let you win at least once then!”

Karkat slapped him away with a smile, “Oh thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”

“Yeah, well we are biffles, it’s the least I could do.” Sollux laughed, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Oh my god stop using that word, it was only funny the first couple of times.” 

Sollux paused as he felt something in his pocket and he smiled as he remembered what it was, pulling his hand out with a sparkling pyrite stone in it. He had found it at the start of his adventure with Aradia, when they had been exploring some of the older caves in the forest. “Happy birthday!” He said, grabbing Karkat’s hand and placing the stone in it with a smile.

“You just find out it’s my birthday and now you give me a shitty fool’s gold stone that I can buy for fifty cents.” Karkat looked at him dubiously but Sollux just waved him away.

“Hey, throw it out if you want, but you can’t complain to me about how I never give you presents.”

“Right. Get out of here you nerd!” Karkat shoved his shoulder and Sollux stuck his tongue out. 

The taller of the two paused, just as he was about to leave, “Hey, have you ever been on pesterchum?”

“Once or twice.”

“Look me up under twinArmageddons, I’ll be waiting!” Sollux shut the door behind him and glanced back at the grand house as he slipped into the car. Karkat looked so small in the window, staring at the retreating yellow vehicle, Sollux felt a little bad that he was alone on his birthday.

He wondered if maybe he’d made the day a little better, judging from what Karkat said it seemed like he had succeeded in just that.

_Six Years Later_

Karkat opened his eyes to a messy tangle of chestnut brown hair in front of him, a tall, gangly man wrapped in his arms. His dream of their first meeting was fresh in his mind and he hugged his partner closer, thinking about how lucky he was and how everything could be so different had one little thing not happened.

Despite Karkat being the shorter of the two he still demanded to be the big spoon, and Sollux never seemed to disagree. Karkat used this to his advantage and buried his nose into Sollux’s hair, smiling as the sleepy hacker grumbled a half-hearted insult. 

Karkat glanced over the bed head and looked at his alarm clock, poking Sollux in the side. “It’s almost time for class, get up loser.”

“A true biffle would let me sleep in.” Sollux complained, turning around in Karkat’s arms and snuggling into his chest. 

“I’m not your biffle, I’m your boyfriend, and thus I have no obligation to accommodate your sorry ass. Now get out of bed and get your shit together cause if you miss another coding class I think your teacher is going to have a heart attack.” 

“He’d probably have a heart attack if I came in again and called him out on his shitty programming.”

“Get.”

Sollux let out a groan and pushed himself up on his elbows, leaning over Karkat to grab his glasses off the nightstand. He squinted down at Karkat’s adorable, grouchy face. “Only for you KK.”

Karkat smiled at him and then rolled back up in the covers as Sollux slipped out. “Wait a minute, how come you get to go back to bed?” Sollux said as he grabbed his shower caddy. 

“Because my class doesn’t start till one fucker.”

“You suck.”

“Only on special occasions.” Karkat cackled, throwing the covers over his head as Sollux threw dental floss at him. Good thing he never used it cause the small container bounced over Karkat and slipped between the bed and the wall, a lost cause as far as they were concerned.

As Sollux went to go and shower Karkat rolled over to glance at the windowsill, debating whether or not to shut the shitty dorm curtains. A rock gleamed from its perch, a stupid little fool’s gold from many years ago, shining as the sun’s rays hit it. Karkat smiled more softly to himself.

Everything could have been so different. He was really glad it wasn’t.


End file.
